By SCOTT GUTIERREZ, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Seattle city officials plan to hire an independent consultant to help the city's Department of Transportation improve its response plan for future snowstorms.

A report issued Wednesday revealed more flaws with how the Transportation Department reacted to last December's crippling storm, beyond what the agency identified in its own After Action Report last year.

In a news release, councilmembers and Mayor Greg Nickels announced an agreement to hire a consultant who would aid SDOT in implementing the report's recommendations. The report suggested a similar approach to the review of Seattle City Light after the November 2006 windstorms that blacked out much of the region.

"We are not going to go back and look at who is at fault for everything. The goal is to develop a work plan so that we will do better next time," Council President Richard Conlin said.

According to the City Council's review, SDOT lacked a modern tracking system and clear policies on how to prioritize and manage the storm response. SDOT supervisors, for instance, tracked plow deployments and assignments on a dry-erase board at maintenance stations, with hundreds of crews' hand-written reports as the only documentation. Crews also relied too heavily on employees' personal experience and expertise in managing the city's snow response in decision-making.

The report found that SDOT's self-analysis of "lessons learned" lacked depth and missed other critical issues. Among the report's recommendations:

- Compare SDOT's Winter Storm Response Plan to plans from other jurisdictions and evaluate the department's overall preparedness for future emergencies and disasters.

The City Council ordered the report in March after stories by The Seattle Times that found SDOT mismanaged how city plows were dispatched and gave preferential treatment to West Seattle neighborhoods where Mayor Greg Nickels and Transportation chief Grace Crunican live. Council analysts interviewed SDOT crew chiefs and supervisors and reviewed the same documents provided to the Times.

December's storm blanketed Seattle, shutting down roads, bus routes and businesses for days just before Christmas. In the aftermath, the Council hosted several public hearings during which they heard of ill-preparedness, lack of communication, and residents who were stranded from work, home or medical appointments.

SDOT has made several changes, including a switch to using salt during severe winter storms, expanding its fleet to 29 plows, adding 13 contract plows, deploying inspectors to assess road conditions, enhancing coordination with King County Metro Transit and developing an extreme winter weather plan.

"Ultimately, at issue is SDOT's preparedness for future emergencies and disasters, not just snowstorms," the report said.

There was some evidence that SDOT's senior staff members were not aware that they could request activation of the city's Emergency Operations Center, according to the report.

It said SDOT is evaluating GPS technology for future use, but wouldn't have it available until 2010.

It also gave SDOT some credit, saying the Council's examination found that "SDOT staff was committed and worked extremely hard during an extraordinary snowstorm event."